Book Review : Demons In My Mind by Aashish Gupta

Author - Aashish Gupta
Publisher - Notion Press
Pages - 330

Blurb

Is your mind under your control? Dakshesh, an old man in Sirubari village suffering from cancer, wishes to be released from the excruciating pain. His journey takes him to the three monks, known for miraculous healing and life transformation. He discovers they are no saints but hardened criminals. The three monks - Rizwan, Murli, Joseph - narrate stories of unprecedented savagery that would make even the most cold-hearted criminals look down with shame.
The dark stories of the three monks leave Dakshesh gasping, but there is something about their dishonorable lives that relieves Dakshesh from his pain.

Review

This book is a masterpiece. It's a dark psychological thriller that'll surely make you shift from your comfortable position on the couch. This story will leave you contemplating the deeper mysteries of life and the psychology of a criminal mind.

The story starts on a spiritual note where a charitable old man, suffering from cancer, wished to visit The Three Monks who were believed to possess the elixir to all problems of life. No one has ever seen them yet blind faith made them believe in the powers of the Monks. The old man, Dakshesh, came across those Three Monks and pleaded them to relieve him from his pain and offer him a peaceful death. The Monks admitted they were no special souls, but we're dangerous criminals hiding from the whole world. They narrated the stories of their lives which left both Dakshesh and me flabbergasted!

The names of the three Monks - Rizwaan, Murli, Joseph symbolises that crime knows no religion. One of them was a murderer, one of them was a rapist and another was a lover who turned into a torturer.

Just like Dakshesh, the readers shall also be startled, knowing the dark stories of their lives. However there was some invisible essence that relieved Dakshesh from his pain.

The story depicts how a person becomes slave to his mind. The mind can be a horrible master. Once it gains control of the mind, you start losing your rational insight. You lose your judgemental ability. The story beautifully portrays how innocent minds turned into maniacal ones! It was as if they were being dragged into an unending vortex of darkness. A criminal mind tends to dissolve the boundary between right and wrong, good and bad and thus his own acts always seem right to him. When one becomes prisoner of his mind, criminal tendency creeps in. No one is born a criminal, but transformations into one.

The language is fluent, though the use of too many participles in the first chapter have made it a bit clumsy. The story is too fast paced. The theme is good. The plot is wonderful. The storyline is good. Character designing is excellent. The author has beautifully incorporated poetic touch into his story which is praiseworthy indeed!

The author has done a great job by choosing to write on such a genre and has faired well with the story. Hardly I have seen any Indian author experimenting with such a genre.
The story is no doubt dark.. The vividness of the story makes every character seem real. I could actually visualise Namboo and Ayeda before my eyes!

My suggestion is... Read it slow, else it might leave a deep impact on your mind like it happened for me. It will create an eerie feeling in you.
Hallucinations played a great part in the story. It has been described in details how a criminal mind goes through a phase of hallucinations before committing a crime.

Overall it's a wonderful story with a different taste! A must read!! 

Cover - 4/5
Title - 4.5/5
Plot - 4.8/5
Blurb - 3.5/5
Language - 4/5